8 Months and MOVING!!

This past month has been an explosion of development!
On Thanksgiving Liam finally took crawling steps and by my birthday a week later he was off!
He finally got his two front teeth in which as exciting as it is, is kind of no fun. He had a few restless nights because of it not to mention having to practice his biting skills on lots of things.
He is talking more, saying fuller babble words. If that makes sense.
Now that he is crawling he is into EVERYTHING!
Mike has taken it upon himself to baby proof the house and we need it!
I've had to catch him a couple of times from going head first down the stairs. Oh boy!
If I thought he was moving before he is REALLY moving now! He's even moving around like crazy in his sleep.
He had his first over night stay with his Grandma Chi Chi (my mom). Bless her soul it was the day his two front teeth were cutting in and he was getting sick to boot! She was so kind to take care of him while I soaked in the hot springs for my 30th.
Now that Christmas is right around the corner it has been non-stop!
Liam got to see Santa last Saturday and did surprisingly well! I'm looking forward to seeing how he does with opening up presents.
He didn't have a pediatrician appointment this month so I'm not absolutely sure of his weight but I weighed him at Baby Earth and the scale said 24.9lb which would mean he's lost a pound so I'm not sure how accurate that scale really is. Or it could be that he's up and moving around so much he's lost some baby weight. We'll find out next month I guess!
Alrighty, I'm off to make sure he's not getting into anything too dangerous.
Photo time!

7 Months: This is Fun!

I apologize in advance for my writing this evening. I am half asleep but know I won't get to this if I don't do it now.
Little Man Liam is now 7 months old and weighed in just short of 26lbs. He is massive! He is now wearing 18 month old clothing. I'm afraid to know what I have in store for me by the time he's a year! I'm thinking a 5 o' clock shadow and a baritone voice.
He is so close to crawling it is ridiculous! He is pulling himself up onto his knees but hasn't quite gotten the whole moving forward thing. We've witnessed a couple of crawl steps but then he loses momentum. He does have a tendency to do scoot himself backwards under furniture like tables, beds, and chair. He'll get all the way underneath and then get frustrated that he is stuck.
He still only has 2 teeth and keeps acting like he is getting more but none have surfaced.
He is loving being on solid foods and so far has eaten everything we've given him. His least favorite is jars of baby food. He seems to prefer the real deal.
We did our first big travel with him around Halloween for my Aunt's wedding and of course to see his Chi Chi (my mom) and Maw Maw (my Grandma) up in Oklahoma. He was a rock star on the way home but cried for about an hour on the way up there. Sometimes he just doesn't like the car.
We are taking our first air travel in a couple of weeks and I am terrified! I am doing it without Mike and I'm thinking things are going to get crazy. I'm imagining crying the whole time, explosive diaper, explosive spit up on the passenger sitting next to us, and more crying. Maybe I will start now with a pep talk to Liam about how amazing planes are, even though I think they're pretty terrifying. And probably I should bring a gift for whomever ends up sitting next to us.
I am drawing a blank on any other fun Liam news. I'm sure I'll catch it all by next month. In the meantime, enjoy these photos and goodnight!

**update: this was written on Thursday and it is now Monday. Still sleep deprived and very sorry I forgot to post this sooner!

Almost there!

At the Pumpkin Patch in Oklahoma

Bruce Liam: Ninja Master

Half of One Year: A Real Ham

Liam is now 6 months old!
Man the time if flying by! I have been waiting for this age. He is becoming more independent and I love it!
He can sit up really well now. No pillow needed to catch him anymore.
He loves to play with toys. His favorites are those that have a cool texture when he chews on them because he chews on all of the toys and I mean all of them. Among his favorites are any kind of paper, an old foam bath toy, and our water bottles. On the plus side, these toys are cheap!
The big news this month is that he has started solids and not surprisingly he loves everything that I've fed him so far. Sweet potatoes, rice cereal, banana, apples, peas, carrots, oats, butternut squash, pear and avocado  He even ate part of a lime yesterday and loved that too! Let's hope he keeps it up.
In other big news he's begun to mimic our words. So far he's said da da and ma ma. He doesn't know what he's saying but hey, it's a start!
It is so fun to see his personality really start to blossom. He is such a ham. He is always happy and laughing. I just love being around him and know that is a trait of his that will last throughout his life. I am truly blessed.
Klauss has become Liam's tag-a-long. He follows Liam wherever he is. When I go to put Liam down for bed or a nap, Klauss will lay outside his door. He also loves french kissing Liam which we try to minimalize because Klauss eats some pretty nasty stuff. Liam also has a fascination with Klauss's bum which we REALLY try to minimalize because that's just nasty.
Liam weighed in at one ounce shy of 24lbs and is a whopping 29" long. He is barely fitting in his 12 month clothes.
OH how could I forget! He also has 2 new teeth! They are his bottom ones and they are as sharp as razor blades! Luckily this hasn't been an issue while breastfeeding.
Liam at 6 months:

 For Liam's half birthday we planted him a peach tree. It should grow great in this Texas climate and it will be fun to watch the both of them grow together.

Liam with pea face:

Lastly, for those of you who haven't seen it yet, here is a link to see Liam say dada!
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyp2WlvjrNA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

5 Months: Discovery is Upon Us!

How fun life is!
Everyday there is something new that this little man discovers.
Four days ago he officially sat up all by himself, no help needed! I still surround him with cautionary pillows, just in case.
He is also teething which means if he can touch it, it goes in the mouth to be gummed to death.
It's as if the light bulb was turned on and all the wheels of the Liam brain factory began all at once. He loves watching the world around him. People, animals, cars, toys, he is intrigued by it all.
He is also laughing and smiling more than ever. He really is such a joy to be around.
I've read him books since he was a few weeks old but he is now really getting into them, he hits at the pages when excitement then uses all of his strength to pry it out of my hand to chomp on it. Perhaps one day he will sit quietly as I read to him. Ha! Fat chance!
Shortly after his 4 month birthday he rolled over from his back to his stomach. But he still hasn't learned to roll from his stomach to his back. There have been several a morning that I hear a distressed fuss and find him on his belly in his crib. Fingers crossed that this development happens soon!
This month he weighed in at 22lbs 10oz. His growth is slowing down a little bit. Thank goodness! I don't think my back can handle much more weight before it snaps!
Last weekend Sara, a friend of ours, did a photo shoot with Liam. These are probably the best photos I've ever seen in my entire life. I am biased of course but she really did an amazing job.
Here is a link if you're interested in having your heart filled with rays of sunshine:

http://wallflowerphotographer.smugmug.com/Other/liam/25360417_2s2VVN#!i=2085886174&k=SXt7wwC

and now for your viewing pleasure, my mediocre photos of Liam's 5 month birthday. This is his dapper Newsies outfit.

Hunk O' Lovin': 4 Month Old

Liam is now 4 months old and as adorable as ever!
He just weighed in at 21.7 lbs and 28 inches long. He just won't stop!
He is now in 9 month clothing and even some of that is getting snug.
He is so much fun to be around. He is smiling and laughing constantly which just radiates joy everywhere.
He is able to hold himself up so he can now use his Johnny Jumper and Walker. He love to be moving always! He can't quite sit up on his own yet but I think he's getting pretty close.
Another exciting development is that he can now reach out and grab at things. Whatever it is, it usually goes directly in his mouth to be drooled and gummed all over.
His favorite things are to nosh on his swaddler blankets and being sung itsy bitsy spider.
He's still a bit fussy in the car but I've discovered if I put loads of noisy bright toys back there with him, he get distracted at how much he hates the car.
We started a bedtime routine this past month and it's been going well...sort of. He goes down easily about half of the time. The other half he tries to fight the sleep. He was on his way to sleeping through the night until he hit a growth spurt a couple of weeks ago and now he's waking up 2-3 times in the night and waking up at 6am instead of the normal 8am. It's pretty rough. I'm hoping this is just another phase.
For this months picture, I couldn't pick just one so you get to see several!

Month 3: All Smiles and Giggles

Liam is so much stinkin fun!

This past month he has reached lots of new milestones.
He is smiling
He is laughing
He is talking (baby talk of course) and mostly to Mike
He is reaching for toys, hair and hands most of the time so he can put it in his mouth.
He is now sucking on his fingers instead of his whole fist.
He is now crying real tears (which are strong enough to break hearts)
He is now sleeping in the crib in his nursery instead of the bassinet by our bed
and he is now 19lbs 5oz! No wonder my arms get so tired lugging him around!

We are doing an extended vaccination plan with Liam so he is not getting bombarded with tons of shots at one get go. We also researched the recommended vaccines and decided which ones were and were not necessary for him. That being said, he had his second round of vaccines today and he was a major champ! It was one of the hardest things though to hear those cries of pain.

I am so amazed by him everyday.

Month Two = The light is ON

At any given point of time in the day I will undeniably have a combination of either pee, spit-up, milk or poo on me. At the moment I have spit-up on my neck and a tank top covered in milk. Should I shower and change? yes. Will I? Probably not.
I'm not sure when it happened but some time over the past three weeks a light switch clicked on in Liam's brain. He started looking at us and smiling. What a feeling! This mostly happens when he first wakes up in the morning. I'm sure he does that on purpose because he sees my grouchy sleep deprived face and can't help but smile which makes me smile and able to start my day right.
He is also entertained my moving things that make noise. Rattles, blinking lights, he loves his mobile in his crib. He was fussing like crazy one day and Mike put him under a toy cat that has flashing lights and plays music and he went absolutely silent. He was totally enthralled. I am liking this new phase. There are phases I am not enjoying. He now totally hates car rides. I think he gets bored or lonely or something but I can't even run a quick errand without having a crying baby on my hands. He's totally happy once we get there, it's just the car ride. I'm REALLY hoping it's a phase he'll grow out of.
This month he was able to meet his Uncle Brian and Uncle Jon which was really awesome. They were so good with him.
He also had his first trip to the lake and to the swimming pool. It's just too darn hot not to be in the water in Texas.
I've started watching our neighbor's baby a couple of days a week for extra income. He is 7 months old and really fun for the most part. There are those moments when both babies are crying and I have to decide who to pick up first and how to calm them both at the same time. It's at those moments that I think "Thank God I didn't have twins" I have to give kudos to anyone who has raised twins. It's hard enough with just one baby! I can't believe I wanted twins so badly!
Liam has also been using his voice a lot more. His baby talk is so cute and loud for such a little guy! A part of me is hoping this means he will start speaking sooner rather than later.
This month he weighed in at 17lbs 10oz and 26in long. He has outgrown most of his 3 month clothes and is now wearing 6 month clothing. I'm a little nervous what his size will be at 6 months!
I have to admit, it is a lot of fun seeing him develop has quickly as he has been. I know it's just going to get even better.